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The quest for better fusion reactors is putting a new generation of superconductors to the test
- The development of fusion reactors to generate clean energy faces challenges due to high-energy neutrons from fusion reactions damaging surrounding materials and superconductors.
- Private companies like Tokamak Energy and Commonwealth Fusion Systems are working on compact tokamaks aiming to bring fusion power to the grid in the 2030s by focusing on high magnetic fields with superconductors like REBCO.
- Superconductors offer efficient electricity transmission due to zero resistance but are limited by irreversibility fields; REBCO superconductors have high irreversibility fields and can sustain high fields for fusion reactors.
- Manufacturing REBCO tapes for superconducting magnets is challenging due to their brittleness and sensitivity to impurities, but advancements have led to longer tapes capable of carrying thousands of amps.
- Research on neutron and ion irradiation of REBCO materials reveals changes in superconducting properties due to oxygen lattice defects, indicating the effects of irradiation temperature on material degradation.
- Superconductors like REBCO present opportunities for smaller and cheaper fusion reactors, accelerating the path to delivering power to the grid, with applications extending to lossless transmission cables, wind turbines, and energy storage devices.
- Further research is needed to understand neutron damage effects on superconductors to achieve desired service lifetimes, potentially advancing various applications for superconducting technologies to aid in achieving net zero.
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